Court upholds $3M custody award

The state's highest court yesterday upheld a $3 million award to a Millersville man whose two sons were abducted and taken to Egypt by his former wife and mother-in-law.

"It has no effect on me personally," Mr. Shannon said. "I'll never see any money or my kids (before they are grown)."

Ed Brady and Stephen Cullen, two attorneys representing Mr. Shannon, said the decision by the state's Court of Appeals reaches far beyond Mr. Shannon and the Khalifa family, though. They said it creates new case law in Maryland to make kidnapping both a criminal and civil offense, meaning a father may now sue the mother of his children for damages if she doesn't follow the terms of their custody agreement.

"It sends a loud signal that you cannot do this," Mr. Brady said. "It establishes a remedy."

William C. Brennan Jr., the Upper Marlboro attorney who represented Mrs. Khalifa and Mrs. Shannon, could not be reached for comment.

Mr. Shannon, 47, last saw his sons Adam and Jason on Aug. 26, 2001, when he dropped them off at their mother's home for a long weekend. Prosecutors said Mrs. Shannon obtained a new passport for Adam, claiming his was lost, and took the boys to Egypt.

Mr. Shannon only had legal custody of Adam and visitation rights to Jason at the time of the alleged abduction. Since then, in September 2001, he also has won custody of Jason. Adam turned 11 in February and Jason turned 7 in January.

Egypt, however, won't enforce American custody orders. And Mr. Shannon in the past year lost a custody case in the Egyptian courts.

Mrs. Khalifa, who was arrested in 2002 after she returned to the United States for a vacation, was convicted of conspiring to abduct Adam. A county judge sentenced her to 10 years in prison, but a panel of judges later slashed the sentence to three years - ruling that was the maximum allowed under the law. She was paroled and deported in 2004 after serving 22 months.

Mrs. Shannon is wanted on charges she failed to comply with court orders. Egypt has no extradition agreement with the United States.

Mr. Shannon sued his ex-wife and her family in March 2004, claiming they were wrongfully interfering with his custody of the children. A county jury later that year ordered Mrs. Khalifa and Mrs. Shannon each to pay $500,000 in compensatory damages. Mrs. Khalifa and Mrs. Shannon also were ordered to pay $900,000 and $1.1 million in punitive damages respectively.

The women appealed the verdict on several technicalities. They claimed Mr. Shannon had no right to sue and that the abduction didn't result in any "loss of service" from his young sons. They also argued the jury's punitive damage award was excessive because Mr. Shannon didn't show Mrs. Shannon and Mrs. Khalifa could pay the fines.

In the 46-page opinion, the court dismissed all of the legal arguments and upheld the Circuit Court rulings.

"We conclude that the punitive damage award is neither excessive nor disproportionate," Judge Lynne A. Battaglia wrote.

That doesn't mean the Khalifas will have to pay up though. While Mohammed Osama Khalifa, Mr. Shannon's former father-in-law, is a wealthy Cairo businessman who owns several companies throughout the Middle East, he doesn't own any property or businesses in the United States. Mr. Shannon said the Khalifas used to own property in California, but they sold it all over the past few years.

"They saw this coming a long way off," Mr. Shannon said.

His attorneys, however, said this case was never about the money. They said the judgement affirms in black and white how much Mr. Shannon loves his children.

"He wants the children to know ... that he never stopped trying to help them," said Mr. Cullen.

"That's worth more than $3 million," Mr. Brady said.

While attorneys expect this opinion to make it easier for parents to keep or regain custody of their children, Mr. Shannon's case already has made it harder for a parent to abduct a child to another country.

Mr. Shannon said federal lawmakers took notice in 2004 and changed how parents get passports for their children. A parent must now prove he or she has legal custody of a child in order to get a passport.

Still, Mr. Shannon said he is largely disgusted with the federal government's handling of his case. He said the U.S. Department of State's Office of Children's Issues only writes one letter a year to Egypt asking to see the children.

"I get one of those every year," Mr. Shannon said. "The United States government won't exert any pressure."